Jeremiah 1:15

1:15 For I will soon summon all the peoples of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord. “They will come and their kings will set up their thrones ¹  near the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. ²  They will attack all the walls surrounding it, and all the towns in Judah. ³ 

Jeremiah 2:31

2:31 You people of this generation,

listen to what the Lord says.

“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?

Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you? ⁴ 

Why then do you ⁵  say, ‘We are free to wander. ⁶ 

We will not come to you any more?’

Jeremiah 3:1-2

3:1 “If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,

he may not take her back again. ⁷ 

Doing that would utterly defile the land. ⁸ 

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods. ⁹ 

So what makes you think you can return to me?” ¹⁰ 

says the Lord.

3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. ¹¹ 

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them. ¹² 

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert. ¹³ 

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 3:16

3:16 In those days, your population will greatly increase ¹⁵  in the land. At that time,” says the Lord, “people will no longer talk about having the ark ¹⁶  that contains the Lord’s covenant with us. ¹⁷  They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more! ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 7:31

7:31 They have also built places of worship ¹⁹  in a place called Topheth ²⁰  in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing! ²¹ 

Jeremiah 12:16

12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ²²  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ²³  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ²⁴  If they do these things, ²⁵  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 15:19

15:19 Because of this, the Lord said, ²⁷ 

“You must repent of such words and thoughts!

If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. ²⁸ 

If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,

I will again allow you to be my spokesman. ²⁹ 

They must become as you have been.

You must not become like them. ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 17:27

17:27 But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through ³¹  the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out.’”

Jeremiah 18:18

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ³²  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ³³  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ³⁴  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ³⁵  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Jeremiah 25:9

25:9 So I, the Lord, affirm that ³⁶  I will send for all the peoples of the north ³⁷  and my servant, ³⁸  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy ³⁹  this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it ⁴⁰  and make them everlasting ruins. ⁴¹  I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn. ⁴² 

Jeremiah 32:29

32:29 The Babylonian soldiers ⁴³  that are attacking this city will break into it and set it on fire. They will burn it down along with the houses where people have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods on their rooftops. ⁴⁴ 

Jeremiah 50:2

50:2 “Announce ⁴⁵  the news among the nations! Proclaim it!

Signal for people to pay attention! ⁴⁶ 

Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:

‘Babylon will be captured.

Bel ⁴⁷  will be put to shame.

Marduk will be dismayed.

Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.

Her disgusting images ⁴⁸  will be dismayed. ⁴⁹ 

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “they will each set up.” The pronoun “they” refers back to the “kingdoms” in the preceding sentence. However, kingdoms do not sit on thrones; their kings do. This is an example of a figure of speech called metonymy where the kingdom is put for its king. For a similar use see 2 Chr 12:8.

[1:15]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:15]  ³ tn Or “They will come and set up their thrones in the entrances of the gates of Jerusalem. They will destroy all the walls surrounding it and also destroy all the towns in Judah.” The text of v. 15b reads in Hebrew, “they will each set up his throne [near? in?] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls…and against all the towns….” Commentators are divided over whether the passage refers to the kings setting up their thrones after victory in preparation for passing judgment on their defeated enemies in the city or whether it refers to setting up siege against it. There is no Hebrew preposition before the word for “the entrance” so that it could be “in” (which would imply victory) or “at/near” (which would imply siege), and the same verb + object (i.e., “they will set up their thrones”) governs all the locative statements. It is most often taken to refer to the aftermath of victory because of the supposed parallel in Jer 43:8-13 and the supposed fulfillment in Jer 39:3. Though this may fit well with the first part of the compound expression, it does not fit well with the latter part which is most naturally taken to refer to hostile attacks against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah. The translation given in the text is intended to reflect the idea of an army setting up for siege. The alternate translation is intended to reflect the other view.

[2:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “a land of the darkness of Yah [= thick or deep darkness].” The idea of danger is an added connotation of the word in this context.

[2:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “my people.”

[2:31]  ⁶ tn Or more freely, “free to do as we please.” There is some debate about the meaning of this verb (רוּד, rud) because its usage is rare and its meaning is debated in the few passages where it does occur. The key to its meaning may rest in the emended text (reading וְרַדְתִּי [vÿradti] for וְיָרַדְתִּי [vÿyaradti]) in Judg 11:37 where it refers to the roaming of Jephthah’s daughter on the mountains of Israel.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “May he go back to her again?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.

[3:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Would the land not be utterly defiled?” The stative is here rendered actively to connect better with the preceding. The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[3:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “But you have played the prostitute with many lovers.”

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Returning to me.” The form is the bare infinitive which the KJV and ASV have interpreted as an imperative “Yet, return to me!” However, it is more likely that a question is intended, expressing surprise in the light of the law alluded to and the facts cited. For the use of the infinitive absolute in the place of a finite verb, cf. GKC 346 §113.ee. For the introduction of a question without a question marker, cf. GKC 473 §150.a.

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and see.”

[3:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Where have you not been ravished?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “nowhere,” which suggests she has engaged in the worship of pagan gods on every one of the hilltops.

[3:2]  ¹² tn Heb “You sat for them [the lovers, i.e., the foreign gods] beside the road like an Arab in the desert.”

[3:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “by your prostitution and your wickedness.” This is probably an example of hendiadys where, when two nouns are joined by “and,” one expresses the main idea and the other qualifies it.

[3:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “you will become numerous and fruitful.”

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Or “chest.”

[3:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the ark of the covenant.” It is called this because it contained the tables of the law which in abbreviated form constituted their covenant obligations to the Lord, cf. Exod 31:18; 32:15; 34:29.

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Nor will another one be made”; Heb “one will not do/make [it?] again.”

[7:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “high places.”

[7:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the high places of [or in] Topheth.”

[7:31]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “It never entered my heart.” The words “to command such a thing” do not appear in the Hebrew but are added for the sake of clarity.

[12:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

[12:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

[12:16]  ²¹ tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:16]  ²² tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.

[12:16]  ²³ tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.

[15:19]  ²² tn Heb “So the Lord said thus.”

[15:19]  ²³ tn Heb “If you return [ = repent], I will restore [more literally, ‘cause you to return’] that you may stand before me.” For the idiom of “standing before” in the sense of serving see BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.e and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 10:8; 12:8; 17:1; Deut 10:8.

[15:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you shall be as my mouth.”

[15:19]  ²⁵ tn Heb “They must turn/return to you and you must not turn/return to them.”

[17:27]  ²⁵ tn Heb “carry loads on the Sabbath and bring [them] in through.” The translation treats the two verbs “carry” and “bring in” are an example of hendiadys (see the note on “through” in 17:21).

[18:18]  ²⁸ tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

[18:18]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

[18:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

[18:18]  ³¹ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

[25:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[25:9]  ³² sn The many allusions to trouble coming from the north are now clarified: it is the armies of Babylon which included within it contingents from many nations. See 1:14, 15; 4:6; 6:1, 22; 10:22; 13:20 for earlier allusions.

[25:9]  ³³ sn Nebuchadnezzar is called the Lord’s servant also in Jer 27:6; 43:10. He was the Lord’s servant in that he was the agent used by the Lord to punish his disobedient people. Assyria was earlier referred to as the Lord’s “rod” (Isa 10:5-6) and Cyrus is called his “shepherd” and his “anointed” (Isa 44:28; 45:1). P. C. Craigie, P. H. Kelley, and J. F. Drinkard (Jeremiah 1-25 [WBC], 364) make the interesting observation that the terms here are very similar to the terms in v. 4. The people of Judah ignored the servants, the prophets, he sent to turn them away from evil. So he will send other servants whom they cannot ignore.

[25:9]  ³⁴ tn The word used here was used in the early years of Israel’s conquest for the action of killing all the men, women, and children in the cities of Canaan, destroying all their livestock, and burning their cities down. This policy was intended to prevent Israel from being corrupted by paganism (Deut 7:2; 20:17-18; Josh 6:18, 21). It was to be extended to any city that led Israel away from worshiping God (Deut 13:15) and any Israelite who brought an idol into his house (Deut 7:26). Here the policy is being directed against Judah as well as against her neighbors because of her persistent failure to heed God’s warnings through the prophets. For further usage of this term in application to foreign nations in the book of Jeremiah see 50:21, 26; 51:3.

[25:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “will utterly destroy them.” The referent (this land, its inhabitants, and the nations surrounding it) has been specified in the translation for clarity, since the previous “them” referred to Nebuchadnezzar and his armies.

[25:9]  ³⁶ sn The Hebrew word translated “everlasting” is the word often translated “eternal.” However, it sometimes has a more limited time reference. For example it refers to the lifetime of a person who became a “lasting slave” to another person (see Exod 21:6; Deut 15:17). It is also used to refer to the long life wished for a king (1 Kgs 1:31; Neh 2:3). The time frame here is to be qualified at least with reference to Judah and Jerusalem as seventy years (see 29:10-14 and compare v. 12).

[25:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “I will make them an object of horror and a hissing and everlasting ruins.” The sentence has been broken up to separate the last object from the first two which are of slightly different connotation, i.e., they denote the reaction to the latter.

[32:29]  ³⁴ tn Heb “The Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for further explanation.

[32:29]  ³⁵ sn Compare Jer 19:13.

[50:2]  ³⁷ tn The verbs are masculine plural. Jeremiah is calling on other unnamed messengers to spread the news.

[50:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Raise a signal flag.”

[50:2]  ³⁹ sn Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.

[50:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew word used here (גִּלּוּלִים, gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אַלִילִים, ’alilim), “vanities,” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).

[50:2]  ⁴¹ tn The verbs here are all in the tense that views the actions as though they were already done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verbs in the next verse are a mixture of prophetic perfects and imperfects which announce future actions.